Air brake bleeder



Sept. 4, 1951 E. F. WIDEMAN AIR BRAKE BLEEDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May19, 1949 Ewe/l F/rcner Wideman Sept. 4, 1951 E. F. WIDEMAN 2,566,472

AIR\BRAKE BLEEDER Filed May 19, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 2.

-1i- R *8 F's v v Inventor 3 6 well F lelphelr Wideman WW 3% L PatentedSept. 4, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,566,472 I AIR BRAKE BLEEDER.

Ewell Fletcher Wideman, Wetumpka, Ala. Application May 19, 1949, SerialNo. 94,190

6 Claims. (Cl. 303-80) This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements and structural refinements in mechanlsms for bleeding airbrakes on railroad cars, and the principal objects of the invention isto greatly expedite the performance of the bleeding operation.

Air brake systems on railroad cars are. of course, provided withnormally closed bleeder valves which may be individually opened by themanipulation of a lever provided on each car, but since each valve mustbe manually closed after bleeding, the operation of bleeding severalcars consumes considerable time, not only of the person who performs theactual operation, but of the engine crew, switchmen, etc., who cannotproceed with their respective duties until after the bleeding operationis completed.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the invention to expedite thebleeding operation as aforesaid, this being achieved by the provision ofa bleedin mechanism which maintains the bleeder valve in an openposition until the bleeding operation is completed, and thenautomatically causes the valve to be closed.

An important feature of the invention resides inthe provision ofautomatic means for causing the bleeder valve to close, these meansbeing responsive to movements of the car on which the apparatus isinstalled, so that when the brakes are locked the brake system may bebled and the brakes released by a simple actuation of the lever,whereupon movements of the car, such as for example, when jerking,actuates the mechanism so as to automatically close the bleeder valve.

Some of the advantages of the invention reside in its simplicity ofconstruction, and in its adaptability to installation on conventional aswell as new railroad equipment.

With the above more important objects and features in view and suchother objects and features as may become apparent as this specificationproceeds, the invention consists essentially of the arrangement andconstruction of parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the invention;

Figure 2 is an elevational view thereof as it appears when the bleedervalve is closed;

Figure 3 is an elevational view, similar to that shown in Figure 2, butillustrating the apparatus in the bleeding position;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional detail, taken sub stantially in the planeof the line 4-4 in Figure2.and l Figure 5 is an elevational view of oneof the release actuating elements used in the invention.

Like characters of reference are employed to designate like parts in thespecification and throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the inventionconsists of an air brake bleeding mechanism designated generally by thereference character Hi, this bein intended, of course, for use onrailroad cars and embodying in its construction an inverted U-shapedmember l2 which is adapted for attachment in a transverse position tothe bottom l4 of a railroad car, as will be clearly apparent.

The free end portions of the member 12 are provided with transverselyaligned slots l6 to slidably receive flattened end portions l8 of acontrol rod 20, and if desired, the member l2 may be formed in twocomplemental sections connected together as at 22, so as to facilitateinstallation of the rod 20 therein.

The control rod 20 is connected in a conventional manner to a brakebleeder valve 82, such as for example, by providing the rod with a slotl9 to operatively receive the actuating lever SI of a conventionalbleeder valve 82 on a compressed air tank 84. Accordingly, when the rodis pulled from a central position in either direction, the bleeder valveis opened, while sliding the control rod back to its central positioncauses the valve to close. The central position of the control rod isillustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

To facilitate sliding of the rod 20, the end portions l8 thereof areusually provided with suitable manipulating handles 24 which areslidable in suitable brackets 26 attached to both sides of the car, itbeing understood that this arrangement is conventional and does notconstitute a component of the instant invention.

The invention involves the provision of a looking arm 28 which ispivotally attached at one end thereof as at 30 to an upstanding bracket32 secured to one of the control rod portions [8, the arm 28 beingprovided intermediate its ends with a pair of notches 34, 36 while theremaining end thereof carries what may be generally referred as alifting member 38.

This member simply consists of a pair of downwardly divergent brackets40 which are secured attheir upper ends to the arm 28 while their lowerextremities are provided with outwardly angulated flanges 42 secured, inturn, to intermediate portions of a pair of spaced parallel bars 44.These bars are disposed below and at the sides of the control rod 20,and it will be apparent from the foregoing that by virtue of the pivotalconnection 30, the arm 28 together with the member 38 may drop from itssubstantially horizontal position as shown in Figures 1 and 2 to alowered position as shown in Figure 3, this dropping action occurringwhen either of the aforementioned notches 34, 38 enters a slot 48 in abracket 48 through which the arm 28 is slidable. The bracket 48issecured to the aforementioned member l2 and the arm 28, which isslidable with the rod 20, slides through the slot 48 into bracket 48, sothat when the rod 28 is slid in either direction from its centralposition, one of the notches 34, 38 will eventually enter the slot 46and dropping of the arm 28 together with-the member 38' will beeffected, as shown in Figure 3.

The control rod 28 itself is slidable through the bracket 48 as well asthrough a similar, second bracket 5|], the latter also being secured tothe member l2, and both the bracket 48 and the bracket 58 are providedontheir lower end portions with a pair of offset fork pieces 52, 54 reespec-tively which are slotted to slidably receive the rod 28 and arespaced from the respective brackets 48, 58, as will be clearlyunderstood.

Needless to say, by virtue of the slots l6 and the flat end portions I8of the rod 20, the rod is freely slidable but non-rotatable in themember l2,- and a pair of pendulum-shaped release actuating elements 56,58 are swingably suspended from the rod 20, as will be presentlydescribed.

The elements 55, 58,,are configurated as is best shown in Figure 5 andare provided with an opening 88 so that they. may be slid into positionon the rod 20 over the flat ends [8, the element 58 beingdisposedbetween the bracket 48 and the fork plate 52', While the element58 is similarly disposed between the-bracket 50 and the fork plate 54.

By virtue of this arrangement the elements 56, 58 may oscillate inresponse to forward or backward jerking of the railroad car, and inaddition, the rod 285 may be slid to one side or the other without theelements: 56, 58 sliding therewith.

The elements 56, 58- are preferably provided with weights 82so that theinertia thereof is substantially increased, and it will be noted thatwhen either of the elements is subjected tooscillation,.the' shoulders84 thereof will engage and ear upwardly on 'the underside of theaforementioned bars 44,. thus lifting the arm 28 and disengaging eitherof its" notches frorn'the slot 49in: the bracket 58'.

Before proceeding to describe this action fur ther, it may be explainedthat the: elements 56. 58 are also-providedwith additional openings 86-to slidably receive pointed prongs 68-, 1'8 re-- spectively which aresecured to .the flattened end portions [8 of'the control rod 28' andareslidable therewith.

Having thus described the construction of the invention, the operationthereof will now be expl ain'ed;

Assuming: the bleeder valve 82 to be closedand the mechanism 7 in the,position shownin Figures 1 and 2, the prongs tl fiz'l are extendedthrough the openings 68 of the respective ,elements 56,- 58 sothatoscillation of these elements on-therod 28 is-prevented while therailroad-car is travelling. v I 7 However; when it is desired tobleedthe brakes, one of the handles 24 may be pulled'so as to slidetherndfl-fi; .foriex mpjl ir -thsdhfidti th thereof will engage the bars44, thus lifting the locking arm 28 and disengaging the notch 36 fromthe slot 48. This action, in turn, will permit the rod 28 to return toits normal, central po- 1 sition so as to close the bleeder valve 82, itbeing understood that the bleeder valve mechanism usually embodies inits construction means for automatically returning the rod 28 to itscentral position as soon as outward pulling force thereon ceases to beexerted.

.The bleeding, operation may be either. side of the railroad car, suchas for ex ample, by pulling the remaining handle (24) so as to slide therod-'28 in the direction of the arrow '25. will enter the slot 48' andthe element 58 will-be free to oscillate while the element58 is lockedagainst oscillation by the prong 88. In either event, the result is thesame, and the two elements 56, 58 being provided soas to facilitateperformanceof the bleeding operation from either side of the car. v

To assist in returning the rod 28 to its central position wherein thebleeder valve 82 is closed, a coil spring I6 may be positioned on therod between a collar 78 and a keeper 88. The collar '18 is secured tothe rod- 28 and one end of the spring 18 is secured to this collar,while the keeper 88 is secured to the bracket 48 and the last coil ofthe spring is anchored in the keeper, so that sliding of the rod in onedirection (see arrow 72) will compress the spring, while sliding of therod in a relatively opposite direction (see arrow 14) will cause thespring to be stretched: The spring is, in effect, double acting insofarthat it tends to assume its partly stretchedpartly compressed position,wherein the rod 28' is centrally disposed and the-bleeder valve closed;Therefore, sliding of'the rod 28 in either direc-. tion willplace thespring 18 under strain, whereby the rod will be urgedback to its centralposition as soon as the arm 2? is lifted by either of, the elements 58,58.

It is believed that theadvantagesand use oi the invention will beclearly apparent from the foregoing disclosure and accordingly, furtherdescription thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferredembodiment of this invention it: isto be understood that minor changesin thedetailsof construction, combination and arrangement of parts maybe resorted to without departing. from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed. Y

Having described the invention, what is claimed asnewisz I e 1. In-a airbrake bleeding mechanism for r "1: road cars, the combination: of acontrol-rod able from a -clo sed bleeder to an open 'bl position, astationary catch, locking arm pivoted to and slidablewith, said] rod,said arm.,b'ein'g' provided with ad'etent' engageable with-said ca chwhen said rod'is in the open position, aliftiilg,

effected from r In the latter instance, the notch 34,

the two he d ess} member secured to said arm, and a release actuatingelement pivotally mounted for oscillation in response to movement of arailroad car on which said apparatus is provided, said element beingengageable with said lifting member to disengage the detent on said armfrom said catch.

2. The device as defined in claim 1 together with resilient means forurging said rod to the closed position.

3. The device as defined in claim 1 wherein said element is pivotallymounted on said rod.

4. The device as defined in claim 1 together with means forautomatically locking said element against oscillation when said rod isin the closed position.

5. In an air brake bleeding mechanism for railroad cars, the combinationof a control rod slidable from a closed bleeder position selectively inopposite directions to respective open bleeder positions, a locking armpivoted to and slidable with said rod, a stationary catch, said armbeing provided with a pair of detents selectively and individuallyengageable with said catch when said rod is in the respective openpositions, a lifting member secured to said arm, a pair of releaseactuating elements pivotally mounted for oscillation in response tomovement of a railroad car on which said apparatus is provided, saidelements being selectively and individually engageable with said liftingmember to disengage the respective detents from said catch, andautomatic means for locking both elements against oscillation when saidrod is in the closed position and for selectively and individuallylocking said elements against oscillation when the rod is in therespective open position.

6. The device as defined in claim 5 wherein said means comprise a pairof longitudinally spaced prongs parallel to said rod, said releaseactuating elements being provided with openings to slidably receive therespective prongs when the control rod is in its closed position,whereby said elements may be selectively and individually shifted to aposition wherein they may oscillate in the space between the prongs whenthe control rod is slid to its respective open positions.

EWELL FLETCHER. WIDEMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PA'I'ENTSI Number Name Date 1,315,165 Searson Sept. 2,1919 1,670,192 Dickman May 15, 1928

